Whistle.



PATENTBD NOV. 28, 1905.

W. A. PARDOE.

WHISTLE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1905.

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Qvi/f mcoo'm H JISa/WLV M 35 HI 3 @bkwmgsm UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. PARDOE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WHISTLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1905.

Application filed July 24, 1905- Serial No. 270,989.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. PARDOE, a

' citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and A and more particularly to whistles designed to be held inthe mouth of the user thereof.

' The object of my improvement is to provide a whistle of a richer, fuller, and more melodious tone and of greater compass than others of its class, of greater sonority, and to provide the same with a reed so arranged that the air entering the whistle may be caused to pulsate and its vibrations be reinforced, whereby asinging quality is given to the sounds emitted, a quality absent from whistles of like simplicity to this of mine.

To this end my invention consists in a certain arrangement of parts and combinations of elements as described in the following specification and set forth more specifically in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a whistle constructed in accordance with my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section along the major axis of the instrument. Fig. 3 is an end elevation viewed from the opening of the resonator.

Like numerals designate like parts in the several figures.

The instrument consists of a mouthpiece and a resonator. The mouthpiece consists of a whistle proper formed of upper and lower flat plates 2 2, closed at their rear and side margins and unpierced except for the registering air-entrance openings 3 3 common to this class of whistles. The front end of the mouthpiece extends outward into a resonator or horn i. In order to givea depth and richness to the notes, I give to the resonator a rounded contour. Preferably it is elliptical in transverse section, as shown in Fig. 2, the major axis of the ellipse being parallel to the plane of the mouthpiece, and the upper and lower surfaces of the resonator are curved from front to rear, as shown in Fig. 3. I have discovered that such a contour by reason of its curvature givesa more liquid, softer, and more musical tone than when the resonator is fiat and the angles sharp, takes away from the ear-piercing shrillness usual to whistles of this class, and strengthens the harmonics of the fundamental note given by the whistle.

In order to provide means whereby the whistle may be held in engagement by the lips of the player, I form the upper and lower plates 2 with transverse registering corrugations 5 5, raised up from the surface of the plate. These I locate at the junction of the mouthpiece with the resonator.

Transversely across the resonator on a line with the mouthpiece and parallel thereto I place the reed 6. This reed may be made of any suitable material, preferably of thin sheet metal, elastic enough to vibrate through the passage of air from the mouthpiece. This reinforces the vibrations in the resonator and assists in giving a peculiarly flute-like quality of tone.

It is to be noted that the mouthpiece is closed at the ends. This prevents the escape of air from the end of the mouthpiece and permits the entire volume of air to be used to create a musical note. In addition to this the closed ends of the mouthpiece prevent the accumulation of saliva within the whistle and its consequent obstruction. In whistles having the mouthpiece open at the sides the accumulation of saliva demands that the whistle be shaken or cleaned every little while, thus interfering with its success as a musical instrument. Heretofore whistles of this character have been provided with slots in place of the corrugations 5 5, said slots beingclosed by the lips of the player. It has been a matter of more or less difliculty to keep said slots closed at all times, as the slots are merely used for the retention of the instrument in the mouth, and as the opening of either one of the slots would interfere with the production of sound I have devised these corrugations, which afford equally good means for holding the whistle, while at the same time they are always closed and require no effort on the part of the player to keep them so.

The advantages of my improvements are obvious. No breath is wasted. There is no difficulty in holding the instrument in the mouth, and the bell-shaped resonator and its reed soften and deepen the sound and give to it a quality which a whistle having a resonator of a different form lacks. Another advantage results from closing the ends of the mouthpiece in that no saliva enters the whistle. This is particularly troublesome in the other forms of whistle having an open-ended mouthpiece and necessitates a clearing out of the whistle at very frequent intervals.

The instrument can be cheaply made, requires no skill in the playing, and is of considerable musical value.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates open at the front and having registering airinlet openings; and a resonator expanding outward from the front opening of the mouthpiece; said resonator being rounded in general contour, substantially as described.

2. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates open at the front and having registering air-inlet openings; and a resonator expanding outward from the front opening of the mouthpiece, said resonator being elliptical in section, the major axis of the ellipse being parallel to the plane of the said mouthpiece, substantially as described.

3. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates, closed at the rear and open at the front and provided with registering air-inlet openings, and a resonator expanding outward from the front opening of the mouthpiece, said whistle havingcorrugations on its upper and lower outer faces for engagement by the lips of the user, substantially as described.

4:. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates closed at the rear and open at the front and provided with two registering air-inlet openings; a resonator expanding from the front opening of the mouthpiece and a reed located in said resonator across the opening of the mouthpiece, substantially as described.

5. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates closed at the rear and sides but open at the front and having two registering air-inlet openings, a resonator of a general elliptical contour expanding from the front opening of the mouthpiece.

and a reed located transversely across said resonator, the inner edge of said reed being adjacent to the opening of the mouthpiece into the resonator, substantially as described.

6. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates closed at the rear and sides, but open at the front and having two registering air-inlet openings, a resonator of a general elliptical contour expanding from the front opening of the mouthpiece, the major axis of the ellipse being parallel to the plane of the mouthpiece, corrugations on the outer surfaces of the whistle at the junction of the resonator with the mouthpiece, and a reed located transversely across said resonator, whose inner edge is adjacent to the opening of the mouthpiece into the said resonator, substantially as described.

7. A whistle comprising a mouthpiece formed of two separated plates open at the front, closed at the sides, and having registering air-inlet openings; and a resonator expanding outward from the front opening of the mouthpiece, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 20th day of July, 1905.

WILLIAM A. PARDOE.

Witnesses:

FREDRIO B. WRIGHT, J. A. VERNON. 

